Our Circumstance
by Kaori no Tenshi
Summary: AU SasuHina Hoping to teach Hinata lessons in strength Hiashi marries her off to a distant relative Sasuke, the Uchiha heir hoping he could teach her a thing or two. The marriage is to be for 9 months only but can they tolerate each other for that long?


**Our Circumstance **

**Standard Disclaimers Apply**

* * *

AU. Hoping to teach Hinata lessons in strength, Hiashi marries her off to a distant relative, Sasuke, the Uchiha heir hoping he could teach her a thing or two. The marriage is only supposed to last for only 9 months but can they tolerate each other for that long? SasuHina

* * *

**A/N: **Hopefully, this will be a humor fic with a healthy dose of romance of course and angst along the way. This is set in Alternate Universe. I am doing my best to keep all of them in character but I will change some things for the purpose of the story. This will not be about ninjas. This story is based on the book Kiss An Angel.

* * *

.

Chapter One:

"I…H-Hinata H-Hyuuga t-t-take t-t-t-thee…" Hinata was shaking so bad she could barely get the words to form in her mouth let alone execute them flawlessly. She took a deep breath and swallowed the bile rising in her throat. It left a bitter and unpleasant taste in her mouth, kicking her up-chuck reflexes into high gear. Waiting a full three seconds for the urge to subside, Hinata tried again. "I…H-Hinata Hyuuga…" there that was a little better, "t-take thee…" her mind drew a complete blank.

Oh no, she had forgotten her groom's name!

Her father had introduced them a few days ago just before all three of them had gone off to procure a marriage license. All Hinata remembered of that morning was that she'd felt severely ill and that the man who was supposed to be her husband had glared at her as if he wanted her to melt in a puddle of goop on the floor and disappear forever.

Hinata would have gladly obliged him, if only she was capable of doing exactly that.

The next time she'd seen her supposed to be husband was just a few minutes ago before the wedding ceremony started in living room of her father's duplex.

Hinata could feel the waves of disapproval her father was emanating. She could feel it battering at her back and enveloping her in a cloud of shame.

The feeling was nothing new and Hinata wasn't really surprised. Her father had always disapproved of her. It seemed to her sometimes that her father had disapproved of her from the moment she was born and no matter how hard she tried, he would always see her as a failure.

She didn't have a good head for business like her little sister Hanabi and she wasn't an exceptionally brilliant boardroom tactician like her cousin Neji.

How was she going to run the huge Hyuuga Conglomerate when she was so obviously sub-par?

Hinata didn't want to run the family business. She wanted to be a pediatrician…or a kindergarten teacher…perhaps a vet, something to do with children or animals.

Hanabi had once suggested Hinata become a clown.

She would be around circus animals and she would be able to entertain children.

The fact that Hinata had actually considered it seriously, made her little sister turn away in disgust at her hopelessness.

Hinata took a peek at her bridegroom. He was what the Hyuuga money had bought for her. Gorgeous, he was tall, sleek and slender with black hair and dark black eyes that sometimes glowed deep amber especially when he was glaring at her, which seemed to be all the time.

He was scary.

His hair was a deep black and contrasted with the pale perfection of his skin. His features were classic in beauty and chiseled making him almost appear too pretty if it weren't for the fact that there was something about him that screamed male perfection.

Maybe it was the narrowed eyes or the perpetual scowl that seemed to always adorn his lips, like he was displeased with everything and everyone around him all the time.

He was like a caged panther, exotic and restless.

Too perfect and far too beautiful, Hinata wasn't at all comfortable in his presence. He made her feel like some sub-specie of human.

Hanabi liked him.

Hanabi liked beautiful, dangerous things and she had been impressed at the quality of bridegroom their father had procured for Hinata. If Hinata didn't want him, Hanabi said she would only be too happy to take him for herself. Hanabi was only nineteen and twenty-four-year-old Hinata was scandalized by her little sister's proclamation.

Hinata could remember Hanabi saying something about her bridegroom being the last acknowledged survivor of the…Uchiha clan…Uchiha! Yes, his last name was Uchiha…what was his first name?

Hinata could tell that everyone was waiting for her to continue. Why wasn't anyone helping her? Her groom wasn't even looking at her; he was scowling straight ahead as if he couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge anyone else's presence in the room.

"I H-Hinata H-Hyuuga take t-thee U-Uchiha…" Hinata knew she should have paid more attention to him when he had spoken his vows. He must have mentioned his name then, right? Her fingers, which were currently curled around her bouquet, twitched in remembered reflex to her nervousness. "U-Uchiha…"

"Sasuke…" Neji provided helpfully from behind her.

Hinata could hear Hanabi's muffled giggle and she could practically hear her father clenching his teeth. For a man renowned for his cool and almost otherworldly patience in the business world, her father had always seemed impatient with her.

Hinata gave her cousin a grateful smile before continuing on. "I Hinata H-Hyuuga take thee U-Uchiha…" this was it, the moment of truth. When she finally finished saying those words, she was going to be bound to this man for her whole life! Well, for nine months before they would get a divorce and part ways but _still! _Hinata believed in love and you were only supposed to get married when you fell in love! She was supposed to marry her best friend Naruto and not this guy who was standing beside her like some unemotional robot. It was her own fault, she'd let her father bully her into this and now, she had no choice but to go through with this whole sham. "S-Sasuke as m-my a-awful w-wedded husband…"

There was a loud bubble of laughter from Hanabi and Hinata realized what she had said. She cringed and hunched her shoulders trying to curl in on herself and perhaps disappear.

Finally, her bridegroom turned his head to glance at her. He lifted an eyebrow imperiously as if his mind couldn't quite process the fact that Hinata had said those words in reference to him. His vaguely perplexed look evolved into one of distaste and annoyance.

Uchiha Sasuke, she finally remembered him. The last sole survivor of his clan, his older brother had been disowned right before his parents had died in an accident. Once a rich family and a relative of the Hyuugas, the Uchiha clan had lost it's power and money and now only this man standing beside her proved that they once existed. How sad…maybe it was why he was always in such a bad mood?

Hinata tried to say her vows once more and this time, she managed to get through them without any mistake save a few stammers here and there. She had long since gotten over her speech impediment but something about her bridegroom, Sasuke, and being in the presence of her father who disapproved of her, made the old stutter reappear.

The rest of the ceremony proceeded like a garish nightmare for Hinata in which she drifted in an out of her trancelike state. Finally, it was the end and she tensed, realizing she would have to kiss the man she didn't know at all. The man who was now her husband for the next nine months until the contract was over.

To her surprise, the judge didn't ask them to kiss and Hinata realized her father must've talked to him about it to spare her and her husband the awkward embarrassment. Her father was good with things like that. Little details people often forgot to consider. Neji was also like that and Hanabi to some extent.

The sham of a ceremony was finally over and Hinata was drawn forward by her sister who gave her a hug and proclaimed that it was the most entertaining wedding she'd ever been to.

Hinata gave Hanabi a semi-smile, feeling relieved that her friends were not in attendance. They would surely have devised some plan to spirit Hinata off and away from all of this. They were always saying that she let her father and her family, get away with bullying her too much, but Hinata had no choice.

She didn't know how to survive on her own.

As ashamed of the fact as she was, Hinata acknowledged the truth that she didn't know how to work. She had lived under the Hyuuga protection so long that operating outside the comforts of her family name and the monetary advantages it brought was a concept not only foreign to her, but also utterly inconceivable.

She had no money of her own and if her father threw her out, she would have nowhere to go. Once she had tried to support herself by buying some horses. She'd heard that horsemeat was the new chicken and she had gotten into the craze with visions of herself as a businesswoman operating outside of her family.

The only problem was that when it came time to part with her horses so they could be carted off, slaughtered and turned into meat for consumption…Hinata couldn't do it. She couldn't let those beautiful, gentle creatures be killed and used as food.

So now, outside of caring for her self, she now had five horses to take care of and it took Hyuuga money to pay for the feeding bills and the salary of the nice old man who was taking care of her horses for her.

It was under the threat of being cut off and of her horses and herself starving to death, that Hinata agreed to her father's cockamamie plan to wed her off to the Uchiha heir for nine months.

_In that time, it is my hope that you learn a little something about independence, strength and survival! He may be able to mold you into the ideal heir and not some limp wrist weakling. Don't disappoint me in this Hinata. Try to learn as much from him as you can._

"Hinata, Hinata are you listening?"

"Yes Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi rolled her eyes, "You have to pay attention and stop spacing off like that Hinata! It's the reason why people sometimes think you are slow on the uptake!"

Hinata blushed. "G-gomen nasai…"

"I know you're not slow, but other people don't. You should make a good impression, especially with your husband!" Hanabi pointed over to the beautiful specimen standing with their father. "Look at him, he's gorgeous isn't he? You're so lucky…and later on during your wedding night…"

Hinata almost fainted and would have collapsed on the floor if Hanabi hadn't been holding on to her.

"Hinata? Are you okay? You look pale."

"W-wedding night?"

Hanabi smirked. "Of course. Look, your husband doesn't seem happy either. Did you say something you shouldn't have? Or perhaps he was talking to you and you didn't respond properly?"

"I…we h-haven't r-really talked that much w-with each o-other Hanabi-chan…"

"Oneesan! Don't mess this one up too, okay? Father seems to be serious this time. He really will cut you off if you don't do well with the Uchiha."

"What?" Hinata asked. "What d-do you know about f-father's p-plan…?"

Hanabi shrugged. "I overheard him and some of our uncles talking. Did you know that the original plan was for you to be married to Uchiha for one year? Apparently, he flat out refused it so father had to take it down by three months. They say he's supposed to teach you all about being heir and being strong and responsible…"

"Hanabi-sama, I think your father wishes to speak with you and introduce you to your brother in law," Neji broke in smoothly.

Hanabi glanced at him and nodded before hurrying over to where her father stood.

"Daijoubu, Hinata-sama?"

"N-Neji-niisan…" Hinata was starting to tremble and she felt really afraid. Nine-months with a stranger under the threat of being disowned. She knew she wouldn't exactly be destitute if her father did disown her. She had friends who would help her and Neji-niisan wouldn't let her go without some sort of income or other but Hinata didn't want to impose on them.

She was determined to see things through to the end.

It was just that she was really, really scared.

"It's going to be alright Hinata-sama…" Neji assured her.

Hinata tried to smile but failed. "H-hai niisan…"

* * *

. 

Sasuke wondered how much longer he had to wait before he could get the hell out of there. Five more minutes, and then he would drag the spoiled brat out of here, kicking and screaming if need be. If it weren't for the stupid debt he owed Hiashi, he would never have acquiesced to this, and as things stood, Sasuke considered all his debts discharged.

He watched as his wife picked up a canapé from a tray and nibble it daintily with her pinky stuck in the air. She looked classic, well bred and entirely too weak to live in the real world.

In other words, she was useless.

Sasuke could remember his last conversation with Hiashi Hyuuga regarding the man's daughter. "Hinata is weak and spineless. She won't be able to stand up to the other competitors when she gains control of the family business. That's why I think she should live with you for a while. Since doing so would incur some gossip and I do not want our name stained, she should do so under the guise of being married to you. Teach her how to be useful, how to work and be strong enough to stand up for herself. She's too flighty and there are times when she doesn't seem to think at all before she speaks. She will need a firm hand of guidance and I have no doubt you can provide that."

So far, what he'd seen of Hinata only confirmed her father's words. She really did seem weak and Sasuke wondered vaguely if she would be able to survive the next nine months with him. Her skin was pale, paler even than his own skin that seemed to refuse to tan even after the many hours he spent beneath the sun. Her hair was dark and inky, like his, but hers had a lavender sheen to it, much like the sheen her pale white eyes had when the light hit it just right. All in all, Hinata looked like a fragile porcelain doll.

Expensive and utterly without merit except to be used for display…

Well, at least keeping her in line wouldn't prove to be a challenge. She seemed like a mouse, afraid of her own shadow. His mouth twisted in a sardonic smirk, _Life sure had a way of catching up with spoiled little rich girls…_

For Hinata, her life lessons would be courtesy of one pissed off Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

. 

He'd only let her take one carry-on bag instead of the usual number of suitcases she took when she traveled. Her personal maid Ame had had a hard time trying to fit as much clothing as she could into the only bag that Sasuke had allowed Hinata to bring.

Hinata climbed inside the limousine waiting for her and Sasuke at the curb. She had tried calling him Uchiha-san but he'd glared at her and barked 'Sasuke' so she figured that meant he wanted her to call him by his given name. He followed in after her and the moment he settled himself beside her, making the spacious interior of the limousine seem all of a sudden cramped. His presence was too big, too palpable and Hinata inched a little bit to the side to get away from him as much as she could.

She really shouldn't be afraid of him. If one didn't make a too fine point about it, her was actually her cousin of sorts. He was _family _so there was no reason whatsoever to be afraid of him. It was just that she didn't know him very well, that was it! That was the reason why she felt this inexplicable fear. The moment she got to know him better, Hinata was sure they would be able to get along better.

The only problem was that he didn't seem to be friendly at all.

Her fingers twitched, wanting to fidget and Hinata clamped them down on her knees. Fidgeting was a sign of weakness and she didn't want to appear even more of a weakling to her husband. Kami only knew what he thought of her now, after the disastrous wedding ceremony.

She saw that the tinted window that separated the driver from the passengers was closed which meant she and Sasuke had the privacy to talk with each other without fear of being overheard. Maybe she should talk to him? What could she say? Hinata was a shy and quiet person under the best of circumstances; right now she was practically mute.

The moment the limousine pulled into the traffic, Sasuke took off his tie and shoved it into his pocket before he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. It gave him a vaguely sexy and roguish look. He really was good looking and Hinata berated herself for noticing it too much. She shouldn't care so much about someone else's looks, never had before. There was no reason to start being shallow now. She had too many character flaws as it is without adding a new one.

She studied her husband dispassionately, trying to evaluate what she could of him. Good looking, check and double check with five golden stars for perfection. Friendliness? Well…he didn't seem friendly at all. He seemed quite arrogant actually and a tiny bit condescending with the way he glanced at her just then. All in all, he didn't seem to be the type of guy who would marry someone he didn't know. So then, why did he marry her? Did her father bully him into it or did the Hyuuga money work it's magic once more?

He didn't seem to be money grabbing. If he was, shouldn't he try to put himself in her good side and try to convince her not to get a divorce at the end of nine months so that he would be a permanent member of the Hyuuga family?

So then, did her father actually manage to bully him into marrying her?

"Let's go," Sasuke said a few minutes later as he got off the limousine.

Hinata blinked and realized they had arrived at the airport. She got off of the car, grabbed her bag and lugged it after her, trying to catch up with her husband.

* * *

.

Hinata had never really seen a pickup truck up close before. Especially not one as dusty and battered looking as this one did.

Sasuke tossed his suitcase over the side of the truck.

Hinata didn't wait for him to offer to do the same with her luggage. He hadn't offered to carry it in the airport and she wasn't going to ask him. He seemed annoyed enough with her without her giving him extra incentive. She could feel his eyes on her but Hinata ignored him. She already knew he didn't like her and the looks he sometimes gave her screamed that he thought he was so much better than her and that she was useless. Now, some people might wonder how Hinata could tell so much just with a simple look but she was so used to receiving such looks throughout her life that Hinata recognized them on sight.

Gritting her teeth and bracing herself, she hefted her bag up in her arms, staggering under the weight.

"Need help?" he asked condescendingly.

She would have given anything to say yes, but pride rescued Hinata and she managed to grunt a "No, t-thank y-you…" as she struggled with the weight of her bag. A few more inches and she could shove it over the side…but with a yelp of dismay, she and the bag fell backward in an undignified heap. She was lucky enough to land on her bag, preventing her from a more serious injury than just that felling blow to her pride.

Struggling to get up, Hinata reached down once more for her bag only to have Sasuke snatch it from her by hooking three of his fingers under the strap and tossing it over the side of the truck. With his hand to the small of her back, he steered her to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door and shoved her inside.

* * *

.

Hinata's hair was in disarray. Her normally docile, short black hair was now being blown all over the place as the wind gushed in through the open window of her side of the pickup truck. IT was too hot to keep it close and Sasuke didn't seem inclined to open the air conditioner. Judging from the state of the truck, Hinata guessed it wasn't through lack of inclination on Sasuke's part but because of the fact that the air-condition didn't work.

They had been traveling in silence for what seemed like miles and each second that ticked past manage to up Hinata's anxiety level a notch or two. Nine months, she was going to live with this stranger for nine whole months where in he was supposed to teach her about life and responsibility.

Dear Lord, what was going to happen to her?

She had long since abandoned trying not to fidget and her hands were once more strumming against each other as she played with her fingers.

"A-Anou…S-Sasuke-san?" Hinata hedged.

He threw her an irritated glance that had Hinata pressing her back against the passenger side door.

"What is it?" he asked after a few minutes of silence in which it became evident that Hinata had lost the power of speech.

"Anou…w-where a-are we g-going?"

"Do you always stutter like that?"

"N-no…"

"Then stop it."

She wanted to, she really did! It wasn't like she opened her mouth and planned to stutter or anything. "I c-can't…"

"Why not?"

"I s-stutter w-when I'm n-nervous…"

"Judging from your behavior, I bet you stutter all the time."

She did not even dignify that with a reply, opting to turn away from him and study the passing scenery instead.

"Well?" he said after a while.

"W-well what?" she asked as she turned to look back at him. She kept her head respectfully bowed and her eyes downcast.

"What was it that you were going to ask me?" he asked, an impatient bite to his tone.

Hinata concentrated very hard, forming her words carefully in her mind before speaking slowly. "I was just wondering where we are going to be staying." There, no stutter at all. She was so proud of herself she even smiled a bit as she waited for him to answer.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said with a smirk.

Hinata looked up and her pale white eyes met with his dark black ones.

She didn't like the look in his eyes…not at all.

* * *

.

"W-What is…is t-that?" Hinata asked as she gestured over to the great hulking bulk situated a few meters from their truck.

"You don't know what an elephant is?"

Hinata blinked. So it really was an elephant then? She watched as the animal picked up a clump of hay in its trunk and tossed it on its back. It didn't look anything like the big-eyed elephants she'd seen in the Disney movie Dumbo and nothing at all like the ones in Tarzan. Were they really supposed to be that wrinkly? Not to mention huge and scary. "We're here b-because you w-want to take m-me to the circus, r-right?" she guessed. "Did H-Hanabi t-talk to y-you?"

"No."

"T-Then w-why are we h-here?" she asked.

"I'm the manager."

"Of the circus?"

"Any problem with that?"

Hinata wondered exactly how she was going to learn about being a strong leader of a business conglomerate by staying with a circus manager. Not that there was anything wrong with that but…a _circus manager_!

Her family was basically snobbish.

Ancient lineage, bloodlines and aristocracy were all important to them.

Her father, being the clan head and family patriarch of the old and distinguished Hyuuga clan was proud of the generation upon generation of pure aristocratic bloodline that coursed through his and his children's veins.

Among all the Hyuugas, it was Hiashi and his children Hinata and Hanabi who had the purest Hyuuga blood along with Neji who was the son of Hiashi's twin brother. To Hinata, for her father to willingly put her in this situation spoke volumes of how little regard he had for her.

She wanted to cry.

Instead, she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

The long nine months just got longer.

* * *

.

Dust floated in the air and the sun beat down on top of her head making Hinata feel faint and disoriented. On top of all that, her designer white dress with the scalloped neckline and hem trimmed with French lace was not suited for such an environment.

The hem of her dress reached a few inches past her knees and Hinata was grateful she didn't have to worry about sullying the hem. Her white satin shoes however, were a different matter all together.

Hanabi had picked the shoes and ithad four inch heels, about four inches higher than what Hinata usually wore. She gritted her teeth as she wobbled after Sasuke on the uneven ground where he'd had parked the truck.

At least she didn't have to struggle with her bag. He'd carried it with him, along with his own luggage, before he'd set off without her.

Hinata let out a soft whimper when her feet sank into something soft and warm and she realized that it was exactly what she had feared it would be. Without voicing any complaint, she tried to wipe the animal feces off the sole of her shoe as much as she could on the pavement.

Knowing it wasn't working as well as she hoped, Hinata continued to follow after her husband who was headed towards two motor homes, one of which was a sleekly modern one that had a satellite dish on top of it.

The other one was a rust-streaked trailer that might have been colored a tacky puke green in the past but whose paint had faded to give it a barely colored look.

After everything else that had gone wrong in her life, somehow Hinata was not surprised when Sasuke entered the battered green trailer instead of the new one.

Nine months.

She was going to be living in there for nine months.

Hinata sighed, resigned to her fate. There was no way she was going to back out of this. She would prove to her father that she wasn't weak. She wouldn't give up. She would try to change herself and prove to everyone that she wasn't useless.

Before entering the trailer, Hinata took of her shoes and eyed the dirty one with a grimace. She didn't really like this shoe very much anyway so she decided to throw it away. With no trashcan in sight, Hinata left it outside as she stepped through the threshold and into her new home.

She wobbled on her feet. "Good heavens…"

"It's not the Four Seasons."

Hinata felt sorry for her husband when she saw the place he inhabited. It was cramped and cluttered and it smelled of weird. There was a miniature kitchen in front of her, dirty dishes piled in the tiny sink. To the right of the kitchen was a couch that had clearly seen its better days. There was also an oven, a refrigerator and cupboards that looked so dirty Hinata didn't even want to contemplate the grime build-up so she turned away.

That was when her eyes landed right smack into the single unmade bed in the entire place.

One bed.

_Oh no_.

Wedding Night.

_Oh Dear God, please NO!_

"W-where's the rest of t-the b-beds?"

"I already told you it's not the Four Seasons."

Hinata stared at the bed that took up most of the room in one end of the trailer. It was separated from the rest only by a sagging length of wire holding up a faded brown curtain that was pushed up against one end of the wall. The bed was littered with several pieces of clothing, a bathrobe and what looked to be a black belt or cord of some sort.

Sasuke smirked at her obvious discomfiture. "The mattress isn't really so bad. It's actually quite nice once you get used to it."

"I'm sure it is, but I think the couch will be better for me thank you."

"Whatever." He unloaded his keys and wallet onto the countertop.

"You actually live here?"

"I was living in another trailer until a week ago, but it was too small for two so I arranged for this one."

Hinata pictured a trailer similar to the one she was standing in now, only smaller and more cramped. She really did feel sorry for him or at least, she would have if he didn't seem to take such enjoyment out of her unease.

The more she looked around, the sicker she felt. She really didn't want to offend him or hurt his pride but this place was just awful. "A-Anou, gomen nasai…d-demo…I d-don't…I c-can't l-live like t-this…" Hinata gestured around the trailer, "T-this p-place is…" she took a deep breath and made a face when the air wasn't exactly the sweetest smelling she'd ever inhaled. "It's n-not l-livable…"

He lifted an eyebrow, "There's some cleaning stuff under the sink."

Hinata blinked at him and watched numbly as he disappeared behind the curtain and emerged a couple of minutes later clad in faded blue jeans and a white shirt. He brushed past her without a word and headed out the door only to come back, pick up his wallet and stuff it back into his pocket.

"I-I'm not a thief," Hinata said, feeling offended and knowing that her cheeks were probably the color of a tomato right then. She may have several flaws like her father liked to broadcast to the world, but thievery was not one of them. She'd die first before she stole from someone else.

"Of course you're not. Let's just keep it that way," Sasuke said. "Donnicker's over there, it's the only thing I've had time to clean up. You can fit your things into that storage closet behind you. Spec is in one hour and whatever you do don't go approaching the elephants. We have shows at five and eight. Be at both of them."

Hinata's spine stiffened in affront. First he treated her like a thief, now she was lacking enough common sense not to know to keep away from wild animals? Naruto often said she had the patience of a saint and that she should let herself feel angry once in a while. Hinata never really felt angry but at that moment, every wrong that had been done to her bubbled to the surface and her annoyance found a target.

Uchiha Sasuke.

With as much venom as she could muster, she said, "Y-you d-don't…you s-shouldn't order m-me a-around!" she winced inwardly at her delivery. Oh great job Hinata, you sure showed him, she thought sarcastically.

One dark eyebrow lifted infinitesimally as dark black eyes slammed into Hinata's pale white ones. She was seeing the amber glint in them again and it sent a quiver of dread rushing down her spine. She wanted to back away from him as he advanced towards her but she held her ground. If she was going to change, she might as well start here and now.

When he was standing right in front of her, Sasuke lifted his hand and smirked when he saw Hinata flinch as he clasped it gently around her throat. The slender white column felt entirely too delicate in his hands and he became aware of how easily he could snap it and end her life.

Hinata felt the light abrasion of his calloused thumb as it caressed the hollow beneath her ear. Her eyes were still locked onto his as he wordlessly demanded she submit. Finally, he leaned over until he was so close she could see each individual eyelash that framed his dark eyes.

"Listen to me Hinata, we can do this easy or we can do it the hard way, it's your choice. Whatever you decide, I'm still going to win…" his hand moved from around her throat to clasp her shoulder.

Hinata's heart thudded against her ribcage and she swallowed the lump rising in her throat.

"Do you understand?"

Tears were gathering in her eyes and she was afraid she'd sob if she tried to speak so she nodded instead.

"Good."

* * *

.

Hinata collapsed in a heap on the dirty floor. She didn't care if her dress got stained. Her father wouldn't be there to berate her for her untidiness anyway.

What in the world had she gotten herself into?

What kind of man had her father married her to?

It was supposed to be Naruto! Sweet, affectionate Naruto who was the only one who had enough patience to try and get to know a shy little girl who didn't talk much and stuttered all the time. He was her best friend and he was the only man she had ever loved.

Neji knew her real feelings for the blonde and he'd tried to comfort her when he was told what Hiashi had planned for his oldest daughter.

"Niisan…" Hinata sniffled as she thought of her cousin. He said he would be the one to inform her friends about her nuptials because Hinata honestly didn't think she could do it without breaking down and crying. She'd asked her cousin to make sure her friends didn't suspect the real circumstance behind the marriage and he had agreed with her that it would probably be for the best.

Hinata didn't have many friends but those whom she considered her friends were all fiercely loyal and would no doubt be outraged at her forced marriage.

She looked around her dirty surroundings. Her husband expected her to clean, but Hinata didn't know where to begin. She'd never cleaned a room before in her life. She sniffled and tried to stay the tears that were threatening to fall but she failed. She cursed at her weakness but walked over to where Sasuke had indicated the cleaning things were located.

She might as well get a head start on things.

"This is my life now, I have to get used to it."

* * *

.

**A/N: **Yes, I know. They are so Out Of Character it's not even funny, but it's AU. If you really disliked it and think it's an affront to all SasuHina fics and the whole Naruto fandom in general, feel free to tell me and I'll take it down. If you liked it, then please also leave a review. I like reviews, they make me want to update quicker. Also, next chapter of **A Place To Belong** will be up soon so look out for that.

PLEASE REVIEW!


End file.
